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Random thoughts with sporadically profound meaning

Tag Archives: karma

I believe in Karma. I hold faith in the fact that good deeds will be rewarded in kind and bad deeds will not go unpunished. It is extremely uplifting when you are able to watch someone very close to you have those good things happen.

It is one thing to give so much of yourself to make others happy, but it is another thing to lose your happiness in the process. It is a gradual slope and the journey down that road is almost unrecognizable. Suddenly, you are in a place where you never expected to be and you wonder how you traveled so far down without even knowing you were on that path.

The nice thing about life is there is always a choice. Watching someone make that choice to put themselves first and really feel alive again is a reward in itself.

There are several familiar expressions that humankind uses to describe the same outcome. Whether it be “Live by the sword, die by the sword” or “what goes around, comes around”, they converge on each other and intertwine to form a common thread that we all weave into our lives. That common thread is called Karma.

Karma is part of the law of “cause & effect” and it chooses how and when to seek its retribution or favor. It may come back to surprise you in a swift and effective charge, it may linger in the shadows and creep in when you least expect it, or, if you believe in reincarnation, it may make its presence known in your next lifetime. Regardless of when it chooses to expose itself, it will seek you out and place its law gently at your feet.

It can be calculating and manipulative or favorable when it wants to be, and the words used to describe it may best define the actions that led Karma to finding you in the first place.

Karma is not a superstitious hypothesis. I believe we each create our own luck, be it good or bad. Karma is energy, a life force that gains its momentum from the vibrations we put out into the world. And it is not just about negative energy and paybacks. Karma works just as well on the opposite side of the energy spectrum. Good deeds done selflessly tend to have Karma smile favorably upon us as opposed to hunting us like wounded prey and going in for the kill.

The Golden Rule, or as I discovered another name, The Ethic of Reciprocity – is this, do unto others as you would have done to you. It is such a simple string of words with such a profound outcome. And, as this is the year that I vowed to give back, I am putting my good karmic vibrations into the atmosphere and have been receiving those positive vibrations back in spades.

Karma has been very generous in its intention to show me that it appreciates my efforts. And I can only continue to grow my relationship with that Ethic of Reciprocity and hope that I can keep paying that generosity forward.

For those who follow my blog or know me personally, you know I live in a small town. Our liquor store is an over-sized log cabin that can be accessed by land or by water. Because we host a large percentage of the city’s population in the summer, our LCBO is a bustling metropolis at the slowest of times. Cars line the two-lane black top to be able to pull off the road into the parking lot for their chance at a desired parking spot. For those unlucky enough to be a few minutes too late, we wait in line for the next available spot.

Today I was first in that wait line. I pulled into the lot, waited patiently on the side of the entrance, and watched a few happy customers as they left the store with their familiar brown bags. As I was looking at their contented faces heading towards their BMW’s and Lexi (Muskoka plural for Lexus’), a beat up pick up truck, paying no heed to the rule of the line-up, ignored me patiently waiting for a spot as if I were invisible, passed my on my driver’s side and decided to create its own “parking spot”, conveniently blocking a total of four vehicles from exiting their soon-to-be-vacant actual parking spots.

The driver of the truck got out, acknowledged my car waiting to park, also acknowledged the woman in the Lexus trying to exit her space, shrugged and made his way into the store. I’ve seen my share of selfish moves since Toronto moved North for the summer but this one truly angered me. This guy saw me waiting for a spot, saw the Lexus driver (and, potentially, two other cars) waiting to exit and blatantly sauntered across the macadam into the store as if the rest of the world did not even exist. I was speechless, apart from a few well-placed expletives.

I am a patient person. If you are in a rush, I am the first to let you go ahead of me to help you in your quest. But if your quest is to be the most arrogant and uncaring person in town, count me out. I only wish I had the foresight to take down your license plate number so I could rat you out in a more personal way.

When I look back at the road behind me, I am content with many of the life altering decisions I have made. There would be nothing worse than glancing back over the history of my life through the eyes of regret. But will I be that fortunate in another forty years to feel the same way I do after the first half of my life? Will I take all of my knowledge, and the lessons I have learned about only living once, and disregard the opportunity to obtain the most happiness I can possibly achieve?

I don’t want to reach my ninetieth year and remember the moment that I let an opportunity for pure bliss pass me by. I don’t want to have “what if” nagging at the back of my mind. I have 46 years of growth and experience under my belt and I can only hope I can wring every ounce of those two things out of me when it comes to pursuing my ultimate happiness.

Sure, I’ve made my choices and I go through the motions of every day life but how would I feel if there were something out there that was just perfect for me and I let it pass me by? Whether it be a job, a trip or a new love….opportunities are not presented every day. Some of those chances are serendipity, a fortunate accident, and some are created through some mystic energy in the universe, perhaps a karma of sorts.

Regardless of the circumstance, I don’t want to regret a moment in my life where I should have taken a chance, but didn’t. If you ask me in forty years, I hope I am able to tell you that I followed my heart and made every moment possible by simply taking that chance on something that seemed like it was meant to be just for me.

Written for the weekend Trifecta Challenge: On to the quick and dirty Trifextra. This weekend we are assuming that many of you are slogging your way through leftovers and family bickering (or is that just us?) and thus we’re going way easy on you. This weekend we are asking for a 33-word free write. Give us whatever you’ve got. – See more at: http://www.trifectawritingchallenge.com/#sthash.p013Fbnp.dpuf

After surviving ten years of an emasculating marriage, Jake had reached his breaking point. His friends made many jokes at his expense and he was tired of being bullied by everyone.

She would be expecting an extravagant anniversary present so, after extensive research, he booked a trip to the Babuyan Islands so she could bask in the raw beauty of nature. As anticipated, she complained about the coach seats on the plane. She complained about the oppressive humidity. She profusely disapproved.

Her obituary was poignant and sad. Who knew she would have met her fate in that volcanic chasm?

(image credit: lastwildplace.ph)

Written for the Trifecta Challenge – This week we are giving you a page from the Oxford English Dictionary. The ninety-ninth page, to be exact. (Click to enlarge.) From this page, you can choose any word, any definition, to use in your post. (Please type your chosen word in bold, so we know.) And instead of our typical 33-333 word limit, we are asking for 99 words exactly. – See more at: http://www.trifectawritingchallenge.com/#sthash.8OvMgQVR.dpuf